Chapter 186: Nether Imp

Gray’s voice came low and tense, sweat beading on his brow despite the cool air of the chamber.

"Maybe it’s the guardian of the Tartarus..."

The attack came before he could finish.

A shape exploded from the darkness, moving faster than anything Gray had seen since the Primordial. It was a blur of pale flesh and crimson light, its movements so quick that his electroreception could barely track it.

Cindy reacted on pure instinct. Her hands shot up, silver light flaring, and a barrier snapped into existence between them and the creature.

"[Physical Barrier]!"

The creature slammed into the barrier and stopped. For a heartbeat, it hung there, pressed against the shimmering surface, its form still indistinct. Cindy’s frills splayed wide as she poured mana into the barrier, trying to freeze it in place.

"[Frozen Prison]!"

Ice erupted around the creature, sealing it in a block of crystalline frost. But the creature was too fast. It twisted, its body contorting in ways that shouldn’t have been possible, and slipped free of the ice before it could fully form. The Frozen Prison shattered, and the creature vanished back into the darkness.

"It’s too fast!" Cindy shouted. "I can’t pin it down!"

Lily darted forward, her five points spinning, her dark core blazing with determination. She projected a volley of black spines toward the creature’s last position. The spines shot through the air, sharp and lethal.

But the creature was already gone. The spines struck empty root, embedding themselves in the wall.

Lily pulsed with frustration, her points spinning faster as she searched for the target.

Then the creature attacked again.

A stream of black liquid shot from the darkness, a projectile of concentrated void that hissed through the air like acid. Cindy raised her barrier again, but the liquid struck the shimmering surface and began to dissolve it. The barrier melted, hissing and sputtering, and the creature burst through the gap.

Gray reacted instantly. His cloak rippled, and from his back, tentacles erupted from his humanoid body in a burst of dark crystalline flesh. They lashed toward the creature, trying to catch it, trying to slow it down.

But the creature was too fast.

It twisted past his tentacles, its body a blur of motion, and drove its hand into Gray’s stomach.

"Ghaak!"

The impact drove the air from his lungs. Pain exploded through his body, sharp and deep. But Gray didn’t let go. He grabbed the creature’s arm, his fingers locking around its wrist with crushing force.

For the first time, the creature stopped.

And they saw it.

It was humanoid, but wrong. Its body was pale, hairless, its skin stretched tight over lean muscle and sharp bone. It had no fur, no scales, no armor. Just smooth, ghostly flesh that seemed to absorb the light around it.

Its eyes were crimson, but there were no pupils. Just two pools of solid red that burned with cold, ancient hunger. Two horns curved back from its head, dark and jagged, and a long, sinuous tail coiled behind it, its tip twitching with predatory anticipation.

And it was crawling. Its posture was low, hunched, more beast than man, its limbs bent at angles that shouldn’t have been possible. It moved on all fours, its claws digging into the moss, its tail lashing behind it like a whip.

The system flickered, and the analysis materialized.

[NETHER IMP — Level 55]

HP: 4,500 / 4,500

MP: 1,200 / 1,200

Threat Level: EXTREME

« Analysis »

Apex predator of the Great Tartarus’s shell. The Nether Imp is a creature that has fed on Tartarus Essence for centuries, its body twisted and empowered by the concentrated mana. It possesses immense speed, regenerative capabilities, and the ability to project concentrated void energy as a corrosive projectile. It is the sole reason no explorer has ever returned from the Heart of the Tartarus.

Weakness: Its horns are the source of its regenerative abilities. Destroying them will disable its healing. Its tail is its primary weapon, severing it will reduce its mobility and offensive capabilities.

Gray stared at the creature, his hand still locked around its wrist, his blood dripping from the wound in his stomach.

"...So you’re the one who killed all those explorers."

The Guardian didn’t answer. It just stared at him with those pupilless crimson eyes, its tail coiling, its claws flexing, its mouth opening to reveal rows of jagged, needle-thin teeth.

And then it smiled.

The Imp twisted its arm, and Gray felt the bones snap.

He didn’t let go, not at first. His fingers stayed locked around the creature’s wrist, his grip tightening out of sheer stubbornness. But the Imp didn’t care. It simply wrenched its arm free and the moment it pulled away, Gray saw that its hand was already regrowing. Flesh knitted together, bone reformed, claws extended. In the span of two heartbeats, its severed hand was whole again, flexing and twitching as if it had never been damaged.

Then it slashed its claws across his chest.

The pain was instant and deep. Three parallel wounds opened across Gray’s torso, tearing through Lily’s shadow cloak and into the flesh beneath. Blood sprayed into the air, dark and hot.

[-128 HP]

[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 1752 / 1880]

Gray stumbled backward, one hand pressed to his chest, his golden eyes wide with shock.

The Imp didn’t pursue. It simply stood there on all fours, its pupilless crimson eyes fixed on him, its tail coiling lazily behind it, its mouth stretched into that same horrible smile. It was enjoying this.

Cindy’s voice rang out, sharp and desperate.

"[Wind Burst]!"

A blast of compressed air erupted from her hands, slamming into the Imp and hurling it across the chamber. The creature tumbled through the air, its body twisting, its claws scraping against the roots as it tried to catch itself.

"Gray!" Cindy shouted. "Now!"

Gray activated EMP Shroud.

The electromagnetic pulse radiated outward, erasing his electrical signature, silencing his vibrations. He grabbed Cindy’s container with one hand, scooped up Lily with the other, and ran.

They fled through the tunnel, Gray’s footsteps silent, his presence erased. Behind them, the Imp shrieked as its prey vanished from its senses.

Gray didn’t stop until they were back in the first chamber, hidden behind a curtain of roots that hung from the ceiling like a natural door.

He set Cindy’s container down and collapsed against the wall, his chest heaving, his hand still pressed against the wounds on his torso.

"That," he said, his voice ragged, "was not an easy fight."

Cindy pressed her hands against the inside of her container, her silver eyes wide with concern.

"Your chest—"

Gray glanced down. The wounds were already closing, the flesh knitting together under the influence of Abyssal Regeneration. The scratches faded, the blood dried, and within seconds, only faint lines remained.

"I’m fine," he said. "It’s healing."

Cindy let out a shaky breath.

"That thing regenerates too. Its hand grew back like it was nothing. I’ve never seen anything heal that fast."

"That’s why the explorers died," Gray said quietly. "They couldn’t kill it. It regenerates too fast. And it’s too fast to catch."

Cindy was quiet for a moment, her frills lowering.

"But something doesn’t make sense," she said. "We passed through the barrier because Lily could, and then you and I were accepted. But how did they get past the shield?"

Gray considered that, his golden eyes narrowing.

"Maybe the same way we did," he said. "Maybe the barrier doesn’t just test for threats. Maybe it tests for intent. If they came with pure intentions, or at least no hostile ones, it would have let them through."

Cindy frowned.

"So they came in peace, and the Imp killed them anyway."

"Probably," Gray said. "The Imp doesn’t care about intentions. It just kills."

He pushed himself off the wall, his body already recovered, his mind racing.

"We need a new plan."